Life After Editing

As much as we hate to admit it, there is life after editing. When your editor has finished going through your manuscript, there are still steps you need to take to get your book out in the world.

Make the Big Decision: Before you do anything else with your book, you will need to decide whether you want to publish your book on your own or try to get a book deal with a publisher. This decision is important so be sure to consider the pros and cons of both before proceeding.

Format and Design: Something that many first-time authors do not realize is that your book needs to be formatted. You can hire a designer to format your book or that may be something your publisher will take care of. If you are self-publishing you can hire a designer on your own or if you go with CreateSpace, you can opt for that service as part of the publishing package. You will also need a cover design, which will most likely be done by a designer as well. Again, it will make a difference if you are going to self-publish or not. If you are going to go with a publisher, they will have some say in the cover design.

Publish: Once your manuscript is edited, and possibly formatted, you can self-publish or you can start contacting publishers. Trying to get a book deal with a publisher is no easy task. First, you will have to do research, a lot of it. Find publishers that publish books in the same genre as your book or opt for one of your local publishers. If you are local to the Reno area, consider contacting one of the local publishers such as LeRue Press or Lucky Bat Books.

Promote: Your book won’t be successful if nobody knows about it, so promote it as much as you can. Start a website or Facebook page for your book, have a book launch party, have an author event at your local bookstore or library, or even go on a book tour. Remember, there’s no shame in shameless promotion, so use any method you can think of to promote your book.

Think ahead: Start working on next book if you haven’t already started. There are many talented writers out there, so in order to stay relevant you will need to publish books on a regular basis.

Feel free to share the details of your book and where you are in the process on our social media. Consider it one of the methods of shameless promotion we mentioned earlier.

I am very pleased with the work you've done on my book. Your suggestions and corrections were spot-on and you took my lumps of words and smoothed them out in to a what now reads as a polished and certainly more fluid piece. I wish you and Pypeline much success and do see a busy future for the two of you. I am working on other projects and will no doubt call on you again for help.
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